Back in 2015 there was a post from someone who said they were able to get 5 BofA cards on the same day seven months before getting denied for an Amtrak Guest Rewards card for too many recent inquiries. The poster asked if BofA was tightening up or if there was something about the Amtrak card that made it harder to get approval for. I am asking a similar question. I've been churning a lot of cards for a long time, so I'm at lol/24, and BofA has rejected me twice for this card over the past six months. Credit score is around 800. I was successful in getting a couple of the $200 MLB cards in October 2016 and the ML card in March 2017. Since then, no BofA apps, but a lot with Amex and Citi. Is there a consensus that BofA is now a lot more sensitive to hard pulls than they were in the past?

You will surely get a lot better response to this question in the following forum, where there are active threads about applying for BofA credit cards:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cred...-programs-599/

I'm interested in getting the card, I'm weighing World vs. Platinum (additional points and $100 statement credit), gauging additional benefits of World, I'm seeing the World Card worth paying the annual fees for 4 years.

Given many cases of people not getting $100 statement credit and difficulty of downgrading, I'm not sure if I want World Card anymore, especially 1-class upgrade not eligible from coach to sleeper (even the cheapest roomette).

I have the no fee platinum. I find the extra rewards not worth the price unless you are a heavy user of Amtrak. Another thing to consider is since the new point redemptions started most sleeper trips cost alot more points than previously.

The wiki in this thread states:
When calling both of these numbers, there is just a recording "You have reached a non-working number at card services"...

BoA - does having a checking/savings with them help with approval?
 

For the Amtrak credit card, I spoke to BoA reconsideration now two times at (800) 354 0401. Both times, was not approved.

The reasons stated are 1) "Your credit references have not been established for a sufficient length of time" (only in US for 3 years, starting in Jan 2016 with two secured cards, before in March 2017 I applied for Chase, Amex etc, according to BoA reconsideration they cannot take into account the Capital One secured one from 2016, or the local credit union credit card from 2016, so my credit history is too short according to them)

2) "There are too many inquiries on your credit file" (5 in 2017, 4 in 2018 - I like to travel, so co-branded credit cards are great ;-) )

3) "Limited deposit and/or investment balances with us and/or our affiliates" (I am not a BoA customer, I do not have checking or savings with them, and no BoA card)

It seems like also the 100% on-time payment performance or 736 score did not help with BoA approving me now. I hope maybe this data point helps someone else who might be in a similar situation.

About 2), what is the amount of inquiries on the credit file that BoA does not consider "too many"?

About 3), does anyone know if there is an actual increase in likeliness that BoA would approve f.e. in a year if I opened up a checking or savings with them?

Thank you for anyone who has info about how to get an approval for the Amtrak World Mastercard... :)

For a limited time (until Sept 30th), World MasterCard has a sign-on bonus of 30,000 points, use hte link below, not sure how one can combine statement credit with this offer.

https://www.amtrakguestrewards.com/

Note: previous link provided doesn't work, need to log into Amtrak Guest Rewards and see if the offer is on the front page.

Current offer is 40k + $100 until Sept 27
 

According to the Doctor of Credit blog, this is the best offer ever for this card: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/bank-...-40000-points/

Puts the value of the offer over $1000, up to almost $1200

I don't take Amtrak much these days but every time I do, I'm frustrated that I don't have many points, so I got in on the deal.

No other cards or accounts with BoA, just a Merrill Edge account I never got around to funding. Application went pending then was approved by the next day with no input from me. Have been focused on business cards lately so was only 2/24 new accounts and maybe 5-6 hard pulls this year.

Offer expires in a few days.

My daughter applied for the 40K bonus CC 3 months ago. Does anyone remember what the spend requirements were? Was it 2K? I know we paid the annual fee for it. Thanks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hotelfanatic (Post 31798173)

My daughter applied for the 40K bonus CC 3 months ago. Does anyone remember what the spend requirements were? Was it 2K? I know we paid the annual fee for it. Thanks!

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Mine was spend $2500 in 3 months for 40k plus $100 statement credit. I signed up in August.

The Platinum (no-fee) Mastercard has an increased sign-up bonus - 20,000 points (up from 12,000 and same as the normal World Mastercard bonus) plus $100 statement credit for spending $1000 in the first 90 days.

My points are set to expire in September so I was going to sign up for the card anyway, but this made the decision easy to go ahead and do it now.

AGR World MasterCard holders now get a pair of 50% off coupons for an Acela business class one-way journey. Must book at least 3 days before travel (travel must be on or before Oct 2) and book before August 29.

I do not know if a new card between now and then would get these coupons, but they do blunt the AF a little.

I have the Platinum card and I got those two coupons, too.

Got a promo offer for current holders (I got it for my World card, no idea if the Platinum card or new holders would receive it) in the mail today, for a 5.99% promo APR on new purchases for 9 months.

Bonus 2% cash back on up to $7500 spending thru June 30 2021 for existing cardholders
 

Almost missed this in my e-mail last week... seems to be a widely targeted offer for an additional 2% cash back on top of the AGR points earned:

E-mail subject "Your Amtrak Guest Rewards® World Mastercard®" with text: